Mixing and discharge capsule

ABSTRACT

A combination mixing and discharge capsule for storing separate ingredients which are to be mixed together prior to use and including a container body for one ingredient closed at one end by a slidable piston and the opposite end being displaceably received in a cup-shaped cap which forms a second compartment with a perforated wall of the container body opposite the end containing the piston for receiving a frangible pillow containing a liquid second ingredient to be mixed with the ingredient in the body. The cap has a discharge nozzle extending axially therefrom and when the cap is displaced farther onto the body the innermost wall of the pillow is burst to cause the discharge of the liquid ingredient through the perforated wall end into the container body for mixing with the ingredient therein. After mixing is completed, a puncturing rod is inserted into the nozzle to puncture the opposite wall of the pillow and, when the rod is withdrawn the piston is moved toward the perforated wall to effect discharge of the mixed ingredients through the nozzle.

.Iadd.This is a reissue of application Ser. No. 861,481, filed May 9,1986, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,532. .Iaddend.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention pertains to a combination mixing and discharge capsulewhich contains different ingredients in the field of Dentistry but,nevertheless, is also applicable to other fields of use, especiallywhere small quantities of different materials are to be mixed andparticularly where a pulverant or granular material is to be mixed witha certain type of liquid material. By way of example, capsules of thistype frequently are used in Dentistry to mix certain ingredients to formcements and the like, as well as amalgams and other dental fillingmixtures and materials.

It has been relatively common heretofore to provide capsules in whichonly mixing of different ingredients occurs, without said capsules beingprovided with any particular means for discharge other than removing acap from one end of the capsule and removing the enclosed mixture in anyconvenient manner. One example of such device comprises the subjectmatter of prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,035 dated Apr. 11, 1972 in the nameof Muhlbauer. In this patent, pulverant material is contained in a bodywhich is closed at one end by a telescoping cap, and the other end hasmeans to engage a rupturable pillow in which a second ingredient iscontained and adaptd to be discharged into the hollow body with thefirst material and vibrated in a suitable mechanism to effect themixture, after which the cap is removed to permit the mixture to beremoved therefrom but no means to effect discharge by pressure areincluded in the structure.

A number of other capsules also have been developed which include meansfor initially containing different ingredients and then mixing the same,followed by discharging the mixture from the body of the capsule througha nozzle or the like. The following prior U.S. Patents representexamples of this type of device:

U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,605--Solowey, Nov. 3, 1970

U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,439--Newby et al, July 27, 1971

U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,136--Baumann, Aug. 15, 1972

U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,947--Baumann, June 19, 1973

U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,106--Purrmann, Sept. 23, 1975

In the foregoing patents, although they are provided with dischargemeans as well as the mixing of initially separated materials in a commonmixing chamber, certain improvements have been developed in the instantinvention which are believed to offer advantages over the aforesaidprior art both from the stand point of manufacture and ease of assemblyand operation, details of which are set forth below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a containerbody which preferably is molded from plastic material, for example, butwithout restriction thereto, said body being hollow and adapted tocontain a first ingredient, such as powdered material and the same isinitially contained in the compartment by a plunger telescopicallymounted in one initially open end of the container body and the oppositeend of the body has a perforated transverse wall integral therewith toform one end of a second compartment in which a rupturable pillowcontaining a second, usually liquid ingredient, the second compartmentbeing completed by use of a cup-like cap which is displaceable on saidbody and is also provided with an elongated nozzle co-axial with the capand container body and the arrangement being such that when the cap isdisplaced farther onto the body, preferably the wall of the pillow whichis closest to the perforation is ruptured and continued pressuring fromthe cap forces the liquid material into the mixing compartment where itengages the pulverant material therein and, by vibration, mixing occursand is followed by suitably rupturing the opposite wall of the pillow byinserting a piercing member into the nozzle, after which the plunger ismoved towards the nozzle to forcibly eject the mixed materialtherethrough. If desired, the discharge may be effected directly into aprepared cavity in a tooth, for example, especially if the mixture is afilling material or, if it is a cement, discharge may be effecteddirectly onto the desired area.

Another object of the invention is preferably to provide the containerin form of a pillow having opposed walls, jointly sealed at theperipheries thereof, said walls being formed from suitable metal foilsheet material, for example, or plastic material, or a laminate thereof,and the wall which is placed closest to the perforated end of thecontainer body is rendered more readily rupturable than the oppositewall preferably by being thinner than said opposite wall but saidopposite wall also being capabe of being perforated by a piercing rod orotherwise when discharge of the material is to be effected.

A further object of the invention is to provide a piston of simpledesign and jointly serving as a closure for the initially open end ofthe container body but being provided with no required means to effectremoval of the piston from the body inasmuch as the same is onlyintended and designed for operating as a piston to effect discharge ofmixed material from the nozzle which extends from the cap which isthreaded onto the opposite end of the container body.

Still another object of the invention is to provide on the containerbody means by which the body may engage a seat in an appropriatepressure apparatus, either manually or power-operated, and thus suitablyposition the capsule for operation of the discharge piston for movementwihtin the container body in the direction of the nozzle of the capthereon.

Details of the foregoing objects and of the invention are set forth inthe following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawingscomprising a part thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a capsule embodyingprincipals of the present invention and is illustrated with the parts ofthe desired initial positions thereof in the capsule.

FIG. 2 is another longitudinal sectional view illustrating the rupturingof a pillow which contains a second ingredient to be mixed with thefirst ingredient in the capsule.

FIG. 3 is another longitudinal sectional view similar to the preceedingfigures and especially FIG. 2 but in which the second wall of the pillowhas been penetrated by a piercing tool and the figure otherwise showinga mixture of the two materials within the capsule body.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of the capsule shown in thepreceeding figures and especially in FIG. 3 as being mounted within oneexample of a pressure apparatus, specifically of a manual type, by whichthe piston is in process of forcibly discharging mixed material from thenozzle into an exemplary prepared cavity in a tooth.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated therein a container body 10which preferably is molded from suitable plastic material but may alsobe made from other appropriate material such as, for example, metal. Oneend of the body is open initially and is closed by a combination closureand piston 12 which may be made from any suitable material such asplastic or rubber-like materials suitable to render the same operableeffectively as a piston which is telescopically inserted into saidinitially open end of the body 10.

The opposite end of the body has an integral transverse wall 14 that isprovided with a preferably central perforation 15. One exemplaryingredient 16, of measured quantity for example, is filled into theinterior of the container body 10 before the piston 12 inserted therein.

Threadably fitted onto the opposite end of the body 10 which as the wall14 thereon is a cup-like cap 18 and the other end of the cap has anorifice that is an integral discharge nozzle 20 formed therewith. Onethe interior of the end of the cap from which the nozzle 20 extends, agasket disc 22 is mounted and is provided with a central hole orperforation 24 which is aligned with the inlet end of the nozzle 20.Within the cap 18 between the wall 14 and disc 22 is a secondcompartment 26 within which a container, preferably a so-called pillow28, in positioned. Said pillow is formed preferably from suitable metalfoil material which is impervious to a selected liquid material, such asmercury, or otherwise. Another appropriate material would be a suitableplastic sheet material or a laminate of plastic and metal foil. Forconvenience, suitable discs of the material are formed, and one or bothof them are bulged in order to provide a cavity in which a secondingredient 29 is contained and the discs are sealed at the edges ofperipheries. In the preferred construction, the opposite discs actuallycomprise walls and the wall 30 is oriented toward, abuts and is disposedagainst the wall 14. The wall 30 of the frangible container or pillow 14is preferably thinner than the opposite wall 32, for purposes to bedescribed below.

When mixing of the materials 16 and .[.28.]. .Iadd.29 .Iaddend.is to beeffected, the cap 18 is displaced farther onto the container body 10 forpurposes of decreasing the space or compartment 26 and thereby cause thegasket 22 to co-act with wall 14 to compress pillow 28 by moving thewall 32 toward wall 30. When pressure is sufficient, wall 30 willrupture adjacent perforation 15 and thereby cause discharge of thematerial .[.28.]. .Iadd.29 .Iaddend.into the compartment which alreadycontains materials 16, somewhat as in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2and in which the pillow 28 has been substantially completely compressed,but the wall 32 usually has not been penetrated at this time in theoperation.

The preferred means to effect displacement of the cap 18 on body 10 arecomplementary threads respectively thereon but it is to be understoodthat other displacement means may be used in lieu of threads. Tofacilitate the rotation and threading of the cap 18 onto the containerbody 10, the initially open end of the cap 18 may be provided with anannular rim 34 which, if desired, may be serrated to effect desiredgripping thereof. Also, the end of the container body 10 in which thepiston 12 is mounted also preferably has another annualar rim or flange36 formed thereon and, if desired, the periphery thereof may also beserrated to facilitate gripping the same for effecting relative rotationbetween the body 10 and cap 18. The flange 36 also suitably is used toabut a shoulder, for example in a discharging apparatus or tool 38which, as specifically illustrated in FIG. 4, is of a manual type havingears 40 to receive for example two fingers of a human hand, while athumb may be applied against the button 42 in order to force the plunger44 against piston 12, as shown in FIG. 4.

In order to effect discharge of the mixed material 46 from the containerbody 10, attention is directed to FIG. 3 in which it will be seen thatthe nozzle 20 has had a piercing rod 48 projected therein, preferablyfor the full length, for example, in order to extend through theperforation 24 in gasket 22 and thereby pierce the disc or wall 32 ofpillow 28, following which piercing rod 48 is removed and thereby clearsthe interior of nozzle 20 to receive the material 46 as it is forciblyejected from nozzle 20 by inward movement of the piston 12, either bythe exemplary type of apparatus 38 shown in FIG. 4 or some other manualor power-operated device, as desired.

Initially, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and particularly for purposes ofconvenience, the exemplary piercing rod 48 may be mounted within thenozzle 20 in partially extended position, as shown in said figure and inwhich the inner end of the piercing rod is only aligned with the centralperforation 24 of gasket 22. By so providing the piercing rod in thismanner, there is no need for a dentist or other operator to hunt for apiercing tool and all necessary parts of the capsule are assembled inoperative position and ready for use such as in the initial positionsthereof illustrated in FIG. 1.

When the capsule has been mounted in discharging position, as shown inFIG. 4 in exemplary manner, it will be seen that in the event thatmaterial 46 is of a filling type to be applied to a cavity 50 in tooth52, the discharging material conveniently may be directly applied to thecavity. However, in the event the material is of a cement nature, withequal facility, it may be applied to a suitable area or surface whereusage is needed. Other materials also are readily capable of being mixedwithin the capsule of the invention and discharged therefrom in a manneras described herein above.

The foregoing description illustrates preferred embodiments of theinvention. However, concepts employed may, based upon such description,employed in other embodiments without departing from the scope ofinvention. Accordingly, the following claims are intended to protect theinvention broadly, as well as in the specific forms shown herein.

I claim:
 1. A combination mixing and discharge capsule comprising incombination, a body adapted to contain a first ingredient and having apiston in one end and the opposite end having a perforated wall on thebody, a cap displaceably connected over the end of the body having theperforated wall and forming therewith a separate compartment, said caphaving a discharge orifice in the form of a nozzle extending outwardlyaway from the opposite end of said body, a frangible container enclosinga second ingredient and disposed in said separate compartment with awall oriented toward said perforated wall, means operable to displacesaid cap towards said piston and farther onto said body until at leastthe wall of the container oriented toward said perforated wall isruptured to permit discharge of the container contents through saidperforation into said container body for mixing with the ingredienttherein, means operable to puncture the opposite wall of said containercomprising a piercing rod .[.initially only partially inserted into saidnozzle.]. with the inner end out of contact with said container and theinner end of said rod being extendable through said perforation in saidopposite wall to effect perforation of said container, and means to movesaid piston into said body to engage the mixed ingredients and force thesame through said discharge nozzle on said cap.
 2. The capsule accordingto claim 1 on which said means to displace said cap farther onto saidbody comprises complementary threads on said cap and body.
 3. Thecapsule according to claim 1, in which said piston in said one of saidcontainer body also forms a closure therefor to prevent loss of theingredient in the body of the capsule from said one end.
 4. The capsuleaccording to claim 1 further characterized by said frangible containercomprising a pillow having a pair of opposite rupturable walls and theedges of said walls being sealed together to enclose said secondingredient therein, said second ingredient being liquid.
 5. The capsuleaccording to claim 4 in which one wall of said pillow is oriented towardsaid perforated wall of the body and disposed thereagainst, said onewall of the pillow being weaker and therefore more readily subject torupture than the opposite wall thereof.
 6. The capsule according toclaim 4 in which one wall of the pillow is oriented toward saidperforated wall and disposed thereagainst, said one wall of the pillowbeing thinner than the opposite wall of said pillow to tender it morereadily subject to rupture.